Sapp: The state of our nation, its politics and practices

Dear Editor:

I have a statement to make about some of the economic concerns that have contributed to the state of our nation. Democrats are blaming everything on Bush, and while I did not vote for him – nor do I support much of what he has done- he inherited many of these problems from a Clinton administration. Clinton and a Democratic Congress caused every bit of the housing/banking issues we are facing. CEOs and their senior administrators who walked away with huge sums of money after giving loans to people that should never have been approved for homes that were beyond their means- causing them to default- is what caused the mortgage fiasco.

Banks are crying the blues about not getting their money, when in fact they had MIP/PMI on most of these loans. This means they collected whatever the buyer paid – plus the 20% of the originating loan paid back to them, and still having the home to sell. It doesn’t seem to me like they lost much money, even though they are inundated with huge operating costs while dealing with properties that have foreclosed. This is the cost of doing business, and not doing things properly in the first place! Small businesses all over the nation do not have government bailouts. They just go under and fail due to bad luck/economy or their mismanagement. It is a risk many people take; many succeed-many do not!

Democrats take no responsibility for their contribution to the turmoil that has been caused. Everyone seems to be passing the buck. It is time to forget where this originated – we are all to blame! I believe in capitalism. I get out and earn my living, and I do not cry the blues about somebody being more intelligent or harder working, and making more money than I do. Good for them!

I am against our welfare system. Anyone who continues to produce children when they can’t provide the means to support them deserves to do without any support from the taxpayers. Illegals entering the country do not deserve health care, education or any support from me, nor should their children be citizens. They need to enter our country the right way, and pay taxes if they want to enjoy the benefits we have to offer. The alternative is staying in their country and doing what our forefathers did, igniting a revolution to change their country into a productive nation that protects them and offers the same resources we have, so they do not feel the need to leave.

An alternative to much of the debt that is incurred educating and providing health services to them is to bill the country that does nothing to prevent it, and demanding payment in land that is adjacent to the U.S. or services and products. Nothing in life is free- even if it is free to you – somebody paid for it, if not in hard earned dollars, then in time, blood or sacrifice of one sort or another. Democrats have drained the economy by taking from earners and giving to non-earners and initiating programs that support continual drains without any way to replenish other than unfair taxation to those who get up and go to work every day. This is absolutely wrong! Republicans have the flip side in protecting big business with loopholes and tax cuts; this is also wrong!

Importing/exporting costs should be fair to all, and, if other countries do not allow us the same opportunities they get from us, we should not do business with them, or cut them any deals. The same safety and health requirements/standards we expect from U.S. producers should be rigidly enforced on imported merchandise. The cost of doing this should be on the importers. It places U.S. businesses at a disadvantage in production costs if this not done. Let us go back to when ‘made in the USA’ meant that it was well made and state of the art!

U.S. businesses that close factories here and reopen them in other countries should not benefit in tax breaks of any kind. There should be no help from government in promoting U.S. dollars leaving the country. It is fair that a company expand in any way they see fit to do so, but government should not be helping them to do this. If they feel there is a profit to be made, it is certainly their right to pursue it, but they need to deal with the risks involved and any and all problems themselves. As far as helping other nations goes, the old adage about teaching a man to fish, and not just feeding him, is still true if you truly desire to help someone.

Education and health care are things that should be available to all at a reasonable cost. This would give everyone an equal chance to apply themselves to their studies, and increase their chances at a larger income! I am all for taxes to support those things. Fair and equal taxation is the key. A flat tax is ideal-10-15% – it benefits those who are willing to work and earn a better life, and doesn’t result in a penalty tax by putting them in a higher bracket because they are willing to work harder or more hours to do so. You can also look at doing away with income tax altogether and going to a higher sales tax which would result in a fairer system to all as well. The rich who buy more costly items would be taxed higher as a result, and the poor who should be watching pennies, and not buying luxury items, would not pay as much.

You can’t fault the past presidents for everything that has gone awry in our system. It has been flawed for decades, and our Congress is responsible for much of what is wrong. Limiting terms for ALL elected officials would help with much of the corruption that has plagued our system for years. I personally think it is abominable that they have a protected retirement program. If Social Security is good for us, why not them? We should remind them of who they are, citizens of these United States, just like you and I are!

“We the people” seem to have forgotten what accountability and individual responsibility are. We are obsessed with blame and passing the buck. We blindly elect people to office because of skin color or political party preference without investigating the promises they make as to their viability or truth. This presidential election should have had equal media support for both parties; it absolutely did not. I had always assumed that unless it was an opinion page or article, that reporters/journalists had an obligation and responsibility to present the truth and all sides of an issue. This allowed us to make informed and well thought out decisions, instead of trendy popular choices. Sadly I discovered just how horrid and inane most of our reporters and news stations have become.

I very much thought it was time for a change, but I thought it was a time for honesty and a genuine desire to do things the right way. Truth was the change I was looking for! We have put someone in the White House that played the system with beautifully spoken words that had absolutely no substance or validity and who got away with it. I would have welcomed an intelligent honest person of any color or gender or religious preference, as long as they had the nation’s best interest at heart. This just shows my naiveté. Martin Luther King said it best, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Did we do that? Honestly?

A large part of our nation is under the impression that this is a democracy; it is not. It is a republic. ‘I pledge allegiance to the flag, and the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God.’ A democracy is emphatically a majority rules, even at the expense of an individual’s rights. A republic protects the rights of the individual and minorities as well with a constitution that serves to limit government to fair policies for all. I do not believe in a share the wealth policy- unless it is earned.

Most sincerely,
Deborah Sapp

Rebuttal to Etruscan:
Who is the bigot? You seem to be very selective in your reading? I wrote about many things- isn’t it funny how you only seemed to read one of the paragraphs. Where in what I wrote- is there any indication of bigotry? bias yes – I do not believe in supporting non-citizens or people who are unwilling to get out and go to work- and I never said we were not run democratically- just that it is a republic- and I stated what the basic difference was between the two–as far as electing or not electing someone because of their skin color- I stand behind that- That is NOT bigotry- I believe in looking at their character and their policies- you seem to have overlooked that part, and several other points.–if you voted for anyone based on anything but their polices and agendas – YOU are the bigot! I personally did not think we had great choices in this election. I did not like John McCain’s health plan – too complicated, and relied on us taking responsibility for choosing the best plan for each individual. OMG heaven help anyone having to think about anything! I do however believe John McCain has a better handle on what it takes to run a country, because of his experience- whether you agree with him or not- he did introduce and back many bills. He walked the walk. He was not merely present! I do not think he presented his policies well. He gets the job done, but he is not a great speaker. Hilary’s health plan with minor tweaking became Barack’s health plan. This plan sounds better and is more appealing, but is probably not viable. I would like to see the total breakdown in costs and where that money will really come from- before I would pass final judgment! Many of the promised plans are going to be shelved, because they simply do not have the budget to support them. Barack is so obviously the better speaker/orator ( hopefully his teleprompter never fails)that we and the media did not research to see if his policies/agenda had any substance. I think some probably do- and I absolutely hope everything comes to fruition that will benefit the U.S. as a whole. I still stand behind my opinion that he didn’t have to tell the truth- nor did he- because he had the charisma, and a nation so desperately looking for someone to fix it for them. He said he would send those stimulus checks out without any reference made to our accountability/ responsibility, and that was palatable to a lot of people. The last stimulus check was a loan people- still to be paid back! Where do these bailouts stop? This is not going to happen overnight- or with a few programs- Instead of fundamental change- we need to get back to the fundamentals that this nation was built on. I will stand behind our president no matter who he/she is. I hope someday that a woman is elected, but I would not vote for a woman just for that reason- she had best have good policies, and the BEST INTERESTS OF THE NATION at heart!!! The great thing about being an American is that you are entitled to your opinion, and are able to have it published. You notice I wrote American- not African-American or Asian-American or Mexican- American—- this simply furthers prejudice and bigotry. Race should not be on any applications or any documents other than a medical one. We are all mixtures and blends of many races and countries of origin. If you are born here- you are an AMERICAN PERIOD!!!!! I also put my name out there, because I am not afraid or ashamed of what I wrote. “WHO IS JOHN GALT?”

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